CLARKSVILLE - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team did not score in the final four minutes of a 68-65 Ohio Valley Conference loss to Tennessee Tech, Monday night at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (5-20, 2-10) led 65-64 with 4:04 remaining after Shelby Olszewski's intercepted a pass and drove the length of the court for the basket. She nearly had an opportunity to put the Lady Govs up three points on the next possession, stepping into a Tennessee Tech handoff for a steal. However, before she could cross halfcourt the play was whistled dead due to an inadvertent whistle.  

The Lady Govs were unable to convert after the resulting media timeout, the first of three missed field goals in the final four minutes. Tennessee Tech (12-14, 8-4 OVC) also had four possessions in the final minutes, committing a pair of turnovers. But the Golden Eagles made both of their shots - the first by Kellie Cook for the lead at 2:07 left and the final basket by Jala Harris with 22 seconds remaining - to take a three-point lead.

Austin Peay had two opportunities to tie the game in the final 19 seconds. Leslie Martinez' three-point attempt was blocked out-of-bounds giving APSU the ball with 6.8 seconds remaining. The Lady Govs tried several times to work Whitney Hanley free on the ensuing play but she was caught 25 feet from the basket and was unable to do anything before the final horn sounded.

The late offensive woes belied the fact that the Lady Govs led for most of the contest. Austin Peay held an eight point advantage twice in the first half before settling on a six-point, 38-32 lead at the break.

Tennessee Tech used a 10-4 run to start the second half and tied the game with 15:51 left on Rachel Glidden's three-pointer. Austin Peay would not give up the lead and built it back to six points, 55-49, on Whitney Hanley's three-pointer with 11:08 remaining.

The Golden Eagles chose that moment to make their big run, outscoring the Lady Govs 15-5 over the next five-plus minutes to build their largest lead, 64-59, after another Glidden three-pointer with 5:43 left. Austin Peay scored the game's next six points - culminating with Shelby Olszewski's steal and a layup with 4:04 left.

Hanley finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Austin Peay but was charged with seven turnovers. Meghan Bussabarger, who returned to the court after missing six games due to a concussion, scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Kaitlyn Hill notched her fifth consecutive double-digit outing with 11 points.

Austin Peay lost despite shooting a season-best 53.5 percent (23-of-43) from the floor and posting an outsized advantage at the free-throw line where they made 15 shots to TTU's five.

Tacarra Hayes finished with 18 points, but was held to two second-half points. Rachel Glidden picked up the slack, scoring all 12 of her points in the second period, making 4-of-7 from three-point range. Jala Harris chipped in 14 points.

Tennessee Tech nearly matched Austin Peay's shooting effort, converting 52.8 percent of its attempts but put up 10 more shots (28-of-53) to eke out the victory.

Austin Peay, which suffered its eighth consecutive loss, will have six days off before returning to action with a 7 p.m., Monday contest at Murray State.

-AP-